Syrian opposition plunges into disarray

Updated 5:15 pm, Sunday, April 14, 2013

Photo: Riccardo De Luca

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FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 file photo, Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib speaks during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, following an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome. The leader of the Western-based Syrian opposition coalition has resigned, citing frustrations with the body's ability to advance the fight against President Bashar Assad. Khatib said in a statement posted on his Facebook page Sunday that he would continue to serve the opposition's cause outside of the "the official institutions." (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File) less

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 file photo, Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib speaks during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, following an ... more

Photo: Riccardo De Luca

Syrian opposition plunges into disarray

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BEIRUT — Syria's opposition plunged into disarray Sunday as its president quit and its military chief refused to recognize the newly elected prime minister of an interim government for rebel-held areas.

The moves reflected deep splits in the body the U.S. and its allies hope will emerge as the united face of the opposition and advance the fight to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.

The missteps of the opposition's mostly exile political leadership drew little notice inside Syria, where rebel fighters dismissed it as ineffective and pushed ahead with their offensive to gain ground near the country's southern border with Jordan. Nearby, the Israeli military in the Golan Heights responded to fire by shooting back at targets inside Syria.

The first blow to the opposition Syrian National Coalition was the surprise resignation of its president, who said he was quitting in frustration over what he called lack of international support and constraints imposed by the body itself.

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Mouaz al-Khatib, who rose to prominence as a preacher in Damascus' most famous mosque, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that he was making good on an earlier vow to quit if undefined "red lines" were crossed.

Secretary of State John Kerry said he regretted al-Khatib's resignation, but said it won't affect U.S. aid to the Coalition.

Speaking to reporters during an unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry also said he had confronted Iraq, Syria's eastern neighbor, about allowing Iran access to its airspace for flights the U.S. believes are ferrying in weapons and fighters to the Assad regime.